Barnyard mix hens or roos, anyone willing to try?

catsndogs4us

Songster
7 Years
May 3, 2016
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You all are so good at guessing here, could you try these barnyard mix 8 week old chicks. Others are clear to me but not so sure on these three. I'd really appreciate insight since we may be able to rehome a couple Roosters and we certainly need to and want to give away the correct birds. Thanks.

Chick 1 three photos Black Copper Marans X Ancona (most likely roo)
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Chick 2 four photos 2nd gen. silkie mix X ???
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Chick 3 Five photos Cochin X Ancona (most likely Roo)
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And just for comparison purposes chick 4 born same day we know is a roo (tried to mate a hen today) Blue sex link x Ancona
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They are all pullets even the last one for comparison none of them are even showing any rooster characteristics except possibly the third one the tail is questionable but all the others have straight end tail feathers. The comes and wattles are on time they are not too far from maturity so that's why they are starting to develop that's the age they begin to grow none of them look super big or have big legs Roos tend to have big legs. They are all looking VERY much like hens. Now on to the last one for comparison she is a hen because I have a hen who mounts other hens all the time but at first I was like is she going trans or something but then I looked it up it is just a way hens show dominance it's nothing sexual. She has a big come because she is an egg only hen most hens are dual purpose like Rhode Island Red and more, but she is an egg only like leghorn chickens you notice they have very large comes even if they aren't roosters. My hen that mounts other hens still lays eggs and goes broody like all other hens.
 
That would certainly be interesting (and a welcome development) because last time my silkie sat on eggs of our own she also hatched all girls. When I purchased silkie eggs, as opposed to setting our own we got 4 very definite boys and only 2 girls. LOL If they are all pullets that would be fantastic.
 
If they are 8 weeks old then they are cockerels, maybe not the first one. There combs are very red for 8 week olds, especially the last one, which has the comb size of a mature 6 month old hen. They are month away for what people consider early maturing for pullets.
 
Rooster feathers don't develop until they are much older. Now if they were at least 14 weeks old I would say they are most likely pullets, but 8 weeks is extremely young for that comb/wattle development.
 
Thanks, it's best to look at this realistically. I'll give it a few more weeks before making any decisions. We have too many roosters already though. I love the idea of a rooster coop/flock but I don't know if we would be able to make that work. We needed to add extensive fencing and a very strong coop to make an area safe for our main flock. We're in the country with lots of predators. Not sure we could come up with something similar on a different part of the property without a lot of work and expense. It is something to think about.
 

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